Flooding

These photos show the floods of June 2007 in Clayton West and Scissett. If you have any photos or details of flooding elsewhere in the Parish please feel free to let me know and I could add them. The first photo shows houses in Clayton West next to the river. A new development is proposed in fields on the opposite side of the river bank. If these houses are built they will suffer a simular fate, and will add to flooding problems through contributing more water to the river. Water will run off hard surfaces such as roofs and roads into the river, whereas in fields it will soak harmlessly away.


Footpaths were also affected - in the second photo you can see there was no access to the bridge to cross the river - not even in wellies!




The Parish council has discussed the flooding issue and there is a report about this on the website. I believe possible local solutions could include creating natural flood areas in the valley floor so that fields are flooded not houses and businesses. This would also be good for wildlife (see photo 3).

If you feel strongly about this, write to your MP (Mary Creagh for Denby Dale Parish) asking for better defences. The government have issued compensation to many victims, but it is much better to reduce the likelihood of reoccurrence. I (and many others in Britain) believe the current freak weather patterns are linked with global warming - more action immediately needs to be taken by the government to reduce greenhouse emissions.


The fourth photo shows behind the Junction Pub on Wakefield Rd. As can be seen the dirty waters of the river flooded these houses and the cellar of the pub, causing destruction and distress to all affected.
The fith and sixth photos show how the river took a new course through a new development (which is now a nursery) and ran across Wakefield Rd, causing chaos to traffic. The new Kitchen Salesroom business slightly further along the road was also devastated by the flooding. The waters had started receding when I took these photos, so the floods were even worse at their peak.

The 7th 8th and 9th photos show the proposed site of a new development of houses at Scissett - very wet!
The 10th photo shows the bridge and path on the snicket opposite the swimming baths leading to Clayton West, looking towards the main road. The bridge support was washed away but fortunately was quickly fixed.

The 11th and 12th photos show devastating damage to businesses at Scissett. The 13th shows the bridge on Barnsley Rd, Scissett / Clayton West, near the main Wakefield Rd. The river was very nearly onto the road here. The 14th and 15th photos show the damage to houses on Dearne Terrace / Barnsley Rd, near to Wakefield Rd. I used to live at number 7 and the river flooded here back in 2000, unfortunately soon after we moved in, so I have personally experienced the devastation floods cause. This shows flooding at this point is a reoccuring problem.

Unfortunately, some damage caused by the flood has not yet been rectified (January 2008). A bridleway leading from behind the Junction pub at Clayton West (Langley Lane then Frank Lane) up to Emley is still officially closed due to flood damage.